Hand

Amputation is the removal of an injured or diseased body part. An amputation may be the result of a traumatic injury, or it may be a planned operation to prevent the spread of the disease in an infected finger or hand.

Bites are extremely common and can cause significant pain and may rapidly progress to infection and stiffness in the hand. Early and appropriate treatment is key to minimizing potential problems from a bite.

Patients with advanced disease or who fail non-surgical treatment may be candidates for surgical reconstruction. A variety of surgical techniques are available that can successfully reduce or eliminate pain.

The large joints in the hand at the base of each finger are known as the metacarpophalangeal (MP, or MCP) joints. They act as complex hinge joints and are important for both power grip and pinch activities.

Arthritis means an inflamed joint. A joint normally consists of two cartilage-covered bone surfaces that glide smoothly against one another. When joints become inflamed, the joint swells and does not move smoothly. Over time, the gliding surface wears out.

Most broken arms are caused by trauma to that extremity. This can be a low-energy mechanism like a fall or a high-energy injury like a motor vehicle crash. Sporting injuries are also common causes for a broken arm.

When the skin comes in contact with something hot, it may be damaged, with death of cells in the skin. The depth of the injury depends on the intensity of the heat and the length of time that it is applied.

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a condition brought on by increased pressure on the median nerve at the wrist. In effect, it is a pinched nerve at the wrist. Symptoms may include numbness, tingling, and pain in the arm, hand, and fingers.

Cubital tunnel syndrome is a condition brought on by increased pressure on the ulnar nerve at the elbow. There is a bump of bone on the inner portion of the elbow (medial epicondyle) under which the ulnar nerve passes.

Dupuytren’s disease is an abnormal thickening of the tissue just beneath the skin known as fascia. This thickening occurs in the palm and can extend into the fingers (see Figure 1). Firm pits, nodules and cords may develop that can cause the fingers to bend into the palm (see Figure 2), in which case it is described as Dupuytren’s contracture.

Extensor tendons, located on the back of the hand and fingers, allow you to straighten your fingers and thumb (see Figure 1). These tendons are attached to muscles in the forearm. As the tendons continue into the fingers, they become flat and thin.

Injured components may include skin, bone, nail, nailbed, tendon, and the pulp, the padded area of the fingertip. The skin on the palm side of our fingertips is specialized in that it has many more nerve endings than most other parts of our body.

The muscles that bend (flex) the fingers are called flexor muscles. These flexor muscles move the fingers through cord-like extensions called tendons, which connect the muscles to bone. The flexor muscles start at the elbow and forearm regions,

For most golfers, the hand and/or wrist is the third most common body region injured, after the back and elbow. The wrist is injured 3 times more frequently than the hand. In golf, the action of the wrist is important for the “snap” of the shot in long shots, and the precision “feel” in short shots.

Gout and pseudogout—calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease (CPPD)—are two types of crystalline arthropathies which are disease processes that cause sore joints because salt crystals have formed in the joint.